One path, two destinies
by Dracosy
Summary: While in the middle of his ultimate battle against his nemesis, the hero of justice, a being feared by both, demons and gods, is taken away, forced to travel through the void, away from his family. One of the previous statements may, or may not, be true.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: The call**

Time.

Time was her most pressing concern. We all are limited by it but, to an extend, we are unaware of how much we do have left. She wasn't that lucky, at least, not from her point of view. Her mother called for her presence the day before of her scheduled departure, blatantly lying down the terms she was going to accept, if she really wanted to go to that school.

Now, time was running out and she was still unsure of her capability to fulfill said terms. After a few days, everyone noticed her inability to perform even the simplest of the spells. Soon after that, a new moniker was spread. From then on, everyone knew her as Louise the Zero.

At first, her hopes were high, because there were others as unskilled as she was but, not long after the first month, they were all expelled from the school, the family she came from being the only thing keeping her as a recognized student.

That was her last night before the summoning ritual, the end of her grace period. Lately, even the few explosion she managed to create were small, easy enough to disregard. She knew the real reason wasn't what those gossiping said, she wasn't losing what little power she had in the first place, nor was she ill as her general physical condition implied, but there was no way she could tell anyone the real reason behind her enfeeblement. Blowing out the candles, she got everything ready to perform the ritual one last time.

That night, at last, she finished the ritual. The container was almost full and all that she had to do was to stabilize it. The self imposed runes, most of which appeared in thin air when it wasn't even halfway full, ever so close to the physical container that both, its physical and magical shapes, fussed. With that done, she went to sleep. She had an important task to perform in a few hours

OOO

Two hours. It was the time that passed before everyone else had summon their familiars. One of her classmates, a quiet blunette, summoned a dragon. Her arch-enemy, Kirche, managed to get a salamander. But others got more mundane animals, encompassing from little amphibians to lesser magical beings. Soon enough, the teacher would call for her to approach and perform the summoning ritual. Her certainty about the nature of the beings summoned by her self-made ritual were nonexistent, but hope is the last thing you loss.

"Is everyone done?" The teacher asked, trying to give her a way out, to let her avoid the shame that a failure would carry. He had already skipped her, when her turn came, after all.

She was about to say something, when someone else interfered. "Professor, the only one left is Zero. But I don't see the point in making the rest of us wait just to see her fail, and possibly hit us all and our familiars with one of those explosions of her." As expected, one of her classmates debased her at the first chance.

Before the teacher was able to do or say anything about it, she took some confident steps forward, and stood in front of the class, next to her teacher. "I'm ready to do the summon professor, may I?"

The teacher observed her for a while, as if weighting the chances for a disaster to happen. "Very well Miss Vallière, you may proceed." That said, he took a few steps and, not that discreetly, stood between her and the rest of the class.

Not acknowledging the action, she took out a chalk and began to draw the circle.

"Humm… MS Vallière, your summoning circle seems… odd. Would you like to have some aid to make it?" Colbert offered.

"It's fine professor, I'm been making some… independent study about the ritual, and it was common to add a personal touch to it not that long ago."

"Yes, that's true, but…"

"Ha ha, zero cant even do a proper circle! Not like it matters, she can't even properly fail with spells anymore. Everyone, pay attention, 'cause this is the last time we see her around!" Malicorne shout for all to hear, earning a reproachfully gaze from his professor.

"Never mind us, please go on Ms Vallière."

She took her good time doing it, but it should be fine since her teacher nodded at the sight of every new trace. The effort she made to blend both rituals together was paying off. He didn't make any complain about the final product after all. When it's design was satisfying enough, she stood in the middle, and was about to began with the chant, when the teacher spoke, making her heart skip a beat.

"You summoning circle is… original," he pointed out. "Where did you get the design for it?"

Nervously she gave an answer to the expected question. "I made it myself, to fit me better, as recommended in most of the book in the summoning section of the library."

He just acknowledged her answer as good enough making a nod motion, along with a hand gesture, to indicate her that she could keep going.

Louise focused all her willpower into the spell, while silently making intricate gestures with her wand. After that, and before she ran completely out of power, she began to drain power from the container, carefully spelling the spoken part of the spell.

"I, Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière," around her, the light faded slightly. Everyone felt a chill run through them. The incoming explosion was going to be big.

"in the name of the great Five Pentagon Powers," two of the observers saw how small glowing runes began to spawn and loop around her, most only able to see a dark aura slowly spreading from within the circle. When women' distant voices began to whisper incomprehensible songs, the teacher took a defensive position, ready to cast a shield at a moment notice.

Conscious of their reactions, Louise hurried as much as she could "following my fate," dark purple spheres began to appear and disappear around her, the runes glowing hard at plain sight for everyone to see. Her power visibly spiraling out of her, flowing into a point way up high, where it was accumulating. Some of the students freaked out, running to safety, others rising shields of different natures.

"Vallière stop!" She could hear in the distance. Walls rising all around the circle, encasing her. But she wont stop. She couldn't stop. It was working, she knew it, everyone would see… whatever it was she was summoning, and they would acknowledge her power, they would apologize for the way they treated her. No one would say she was relying in her family's power be able to remain within the academy. She would be a proper mage, a proper noble.

After a few more seconds the walls began to fall apart, Colbert unable to keep them together, chunks of them simply ceasing to exist. Through them, Louise saw those of her classmates that were still there, but most had flee by then. The few ones left, where covering under the dragon, which was herself behind the Professor. Some magical shields of different natures still surrounding them, spiraling at mad speeds, to increase the protection they provided.

Then, she finished the spell, with her voice still steady, taking the ritual to an end "summon a familiar."

Her small container shattered, releasing what little power it still hold, the ceramic fragments falling to the ground. There, to everyone's relieve, the atmosphere returned to its normal state, the voices disappeared, and so did the other supernatural wonders. Everyone glared at the last power threads, until they disappeared, turning into even more nothingness.

She fall to her knees. Tears flooding her eyes. She had failed once again, not even managing to make a decent enough explosion, one that would end her life, saving herself and her family the shame she would bring. All the efforts, in vain. All the hopes, shattered. Everything she had worked for, lost. She would be forced to go back, to marry some noble heir, turning into a trophy wife, all for the sake of her family.

Then, she noticed it. The others were still hiding under the shields. Somewhy, their eyes fixed in the small nothingness between their position and hers, and then, hers did too.

There was nothing, or, would it be more correct to say, that a nothing was there? Its shape was… hard to describe. It was akin to a sphere, floating a few meters above ground. The sky lost behind it to a colorless darkness that wasn't really there, while its size was growing. When it was covering most of the courtyard, its growth halved, coming to an end.

Something… came out from it. It fell to the ground, hitting it hard, and rising a dust cloud. The sphere collapsed, allowing the sky to reappear, light bathing them once again.

Realizing her actual succeed in the summon, she rose to a standing position, and walked cheerfully in the thing's direction. The shields were undone and everyone else approached, if more cautiously than her.

Once again, when she reached the thing with an ever increasing pace, she fall to her knees, hands covering her crying eyes and sobbing.

When the others reached her position, the professor hurriedly approached to the laying person. It was an unconscious boy. He was hardly breathing, his clothes were mere rags, sweat covering his body. Checking his vitals with a quick spell, he confirmed that the young boy wasn't at risk. When he was sure of the boy's safety, Colbert checked discreetly if the boy was truly a boy or some kind of magical creature in disguise, after all, it was unheard for a mage to perform a human summoning. Unfortunately, it gave a weird response. The boy had some kind of magic effect on him. The clothes were certainly magical. But he had seem bigger responses to the spell in stones that one could hardly call magical than the boy himself was giving. "Miss Vallière, I understand you may be disappointed with your familiar, but you are bound to finish the ritual. And I would rather have it done fast, to be able to carry this boy to the infirmary."

"Fitting" The girl climbing to the dragon said.

"Kuriuuuhh!" Her dragon said, supporting her opinion.

Despair spread through her face. "But... But it cant be! I've never heard of anyone having to make a contract with a commoner! You must allow me to do the ritual again!" she was desperate, trying to understand what was going on. Her ritual was almost perfect, she was sure. It was supposed to help her summon something powerful, something magical. Suddenly, she got an idea. "That's it! He must be some kind of shape-shifter right? I've heard of them! They are powerful magical creatures, able to fake human shapes!"

"As if." The red headed snorted. "Be glad you summoned something and deal with it. At least he's cute." she added pressing her right hand to her chin thoughtful "In a few years, with the proper care, you may turn him in a decent enough lov..."

"Miss Zerbst," interrupted the professor "Take this more seriously. Now, Miss Vallière, I've already used the proper spells and I'm quite certain he's just a boy, and, before you ask again, no, this ain't something you can retry, so finish the ritual at once. Please."

Slowly she reached for the boy, ready to establish the bond. Maybe, even with a commoner as a familiar, she was allowed to remain in the academy. It was a familiar after all. "My name is Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière. Pentagon of the five elemental powers; bless this humble being, and make him my familiar." Then, she kissed him, sealing the pact.

After a few seconds, a glow appeared on his left hand. When it vanished, there was a weird familiar rune in it.

With that done, Colbert took the boy on his arms, heading for the infirmary. "Miss Vallière, he's your familiar, come with me while I carry him to the infirmary." Dejected, she followed him.

The others observed from the distance, astonished.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: Abduction**

Walking through the streets of the ever-growing city of Graven, true capital of Moth, jewel of the Dark Lands, I, the great hero of justice, was heading for the city hall. The Nightmare Lord Malekith, posing as its mayor, had committed unspoken crimes, his last atrocity being the straw that broke the camels back. He was going to be punished for them all, with my Avenger Hammer.

As I went by, the oppressed citizens recognized me. My radiant gray mane, its original color lost after years of battling evildoers, shinning under the sunrise light, thought there was technically no sun in The Wake.

I could see how men were envious of my manly beauty, and how women wished for my favor. Such, was my loftiness and power.

I was still a few minutes away from my arch-nemesis' hiding place, when I saw her. A damsel in distress, trying to fight off the hordes of flame, allowing an ice demon to possess her in exchange for its power. As an agent of everything that was good and right, I could not let it be. She was in need of my assistance.

"Excuse me, fair lady. May I have a share of your burden?" I offered.

"No," was the lady's answer, obviously under the influence of the demons.

"But I'll do it for you, you don't have to be shy, I can help." my offer, sincere.

"Has he done it again?" She asked, fighting the control that evil got over her will.

"He has," I confirmed.

"Okay, you can have it, but you will take me to Chaville tomorrow. And we will go to the beach, no excuses. I'll keep your staff as a guarantee."

"But its my Avenger Hammer! I need it to beat the dark overlord!"

"Then, you better find a way around that, because I'm keeping the staff."

Unwillingly accepting the unfair deal, I took the chocolate flavored artifact, and followed my path. Fate wait for no one.

After straitening out some other wrongdoings, I reached my target at last. The cattle of Nix, a marvelous construction of marble, whose owner wasn't worthy of. Once he had been defeated, I will rule with equity and fairness, and everything will be where it should once again.

Its mahogany gates were adorned with gold and silver filigrees, crows depicted in both leafs, but I cared not about such small details, doors were easy to replace.

I chanted "Aeris ictu!" and the doors flow away under the pressure of my mighty will.

With the main hall accessible, I got inside. The place was still the same one I remembered from my youth, so much memories brought back, making me yearn for what I lost long ago. In front of me, a citizen was sitting, the forced smile on her face praying for a way out of her suffering. None would have to wait anymore, their pain would soon be gone.

"Good morning my Lord," the poor soul said as a manner of greeting.

"I'm not your lord, poor lost soul, I'm the great hero of justice, and I'm here to free you all from the tyranny of the malign Malekith."

"I apologize then, Hero of Justice," the smile on her face a sign of how much she had been waiting for that day to finally come. "If you are looking for your mother, I think she's in the dungeon." Another felony revealed to me, my poor harmless mother trapped as a vulgar thieve, inexcusable.

"I'm here seeking for the lord of Nightmares himself, tell me were he is, and your soul will be freed."

"He's in his office, though he's in a work meeting. Could you please wait a bit? He must be almost done."

As per the wishes of such a gentle soul, I waited. There was no need to bring anymore harm to those forced to be in the presence of their overlord.

By the time I saw the men leave, my ice artifact had already lost its power, so I left its sacred cracked cone in the bin, and headed for his chamber of pain.

The doors were already open, but, nevertheless, I destroyed them with a burst of fire, to make a point, mostly. The room was more akin to a throne chamber than a mayor's office. The lie was visible at plain sight. "Were are you hiding, Lord of Nightmares Malekith! I'm here to punish you for your countless crimes!"

From atop of his resting place, the dark lord was reading what no doubt was his latest plan to confuse the citizens, making their lives harder. Raising his sight, he observed me. His eyes a pit of endless blackness, probably a reflection of his soul, his blond long hair tainted with the blood of the innocents. "Here we meet again…"

"Hero of justice."

"Here we meet again, hero of justice! But this time you have nothing against me. I've committed no felony, so you can't punish me. I can run free, and the like of yours can do nothing to stop me." The evil lord boasted, sure of his safety. "Do not get too close while you fix that door." he told to the pour souls, forced to servitude, that were already fixing the door that someone had broken, probably because he was forced to.

"But you are wrong, for I have proofs. You have humiliated me for the last time!"

With but a whistle, he made his movement, and a flock of crows got into the chamber through the windows, and so did I, making two hundred of my strongest fluffiest warriors emerge out of thin air. As always, they came to my aid.

Our armies collided, each of our soldiers fighting to the limit of their strength. Blood was being spilled, limbs detached, eyes taken out of their sockets… war was horrendous, and act of depravity. It didn't matter how many times I've been in the presence of that chaos, it wasn't something you could get accustomed to, not if you were pure deep inside.

Unfortunately, after a while, my hopes of victory were subdued. My troops were fighting for the greater good, but the crows were stronger and more experienced. With little time left until my ranks were decimated, I spoke "You have imprisoned and defiled my mother! That's why I will destroy you. Have a taste of my power, it will be your last meal!"

With the heat of a hundred suns gathering in my hands, I readied myself for the final strike, a fire storm ready to be released and purge the evil from my soon to be city.

"Wait!" The Nightmare lord shouted in fear. "You mother is here!" his lies ineffective, unable to mislead me.

"Dear, whats wrong?"

"Mooooomm! You were supposed to be in the dungeon!"

"I'm sorry sweat heart, but you father had something nice for me, and I've lost track of time playing with it. I'll get out of the room so you can keep doing whatever this is." Kissing me, the mother of all that is good and fair left.

My soldiers were done for, so the crows left too, leaving us alone once again. "Now that we are alone, again, you will pay for what you did!"

"May I know why you are so mad at me?" he asked, trying to confuse me, but obviously failing.

"You made me teleport to a brothel. Again!"

"Oh? You are already at that age? I had no idea."

"Of course not! But I'm almost ten! Can't a healthy, ten year old man, go to the library, at least once, without appearing in the middle of a bunch of whores?"

"You are eight."

"I said almost, ten is closer to eight than, lets say, four."

"Still, I fail to see how any of that is my fault. You are confusing me, Hero of Justice."

"You keep moving them! And then, you replace them with brothels! How is that not your fault? You promised me that they would remain in the same place! Once I kill you, and replace you in the throne, they will remain static, and everyone will be happier because of that!"

"I am keeping my promise, they are always adjacent to the outer walls." his evil will unable to restrain his smirk anymore.

"But the walls are constantly moving! That's not fair!"

Then, I realized that the evil lord managed to confuse me, playing me out with words, taking me away from my original intention, so I focused on what I was doing one more time.

"That's not the point, you...crunch… my moth...crack… must...creak...it!" turning around, I looked for the source of the cracking noises "Mom! I cant defend your honor if you keep making so much noise!"

"Oh sorry, I got distracted, but these ugly souls wont get upgraded by themselves. You see, with a little change here and there, they could be faster workers. How many arms do you think is the right quantity? I think that five is the right choice here, but, should I also make them longer? With longer arms, they will have a longer reach. Not that their artistic value wouldn't also rise."

"Mom, please, I love you, really, but I don't care. Could I please have my death match with dad without any more interruptions?"

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'll take them to the dungeon and make my experiments there. See you later dear, and you too sweetheart."

As she left, the workers following her trail, we returned to our affairs. "Then, father, will you willingly agree to grant me control over the city, or shall I destroy you and take it from your cold hands?"

"You know, I'm a supporter of the cold hands thing."

"Then, you better be a worthy adversary, because, today is the day when you meet your makers. Make them proud!"

Leaving at last the games behind, we both got serious. Spells flew through the room, consuming or melting anything the struck, ancient relics lost, an expensive carped stained. Our fight was slowly turning the place into a good representation of how hell should look like.

He was a better warrior, but I was unbeatable as a sorcerer. Both, my spellcraft and his bladework, rendered useless by the defenses of the other. A confrontation of equals, a fight of titans, a battle of wills. The first one to make a mistake, would concede the victory.

Then, out of nowhere, a portal to the void emerged, most likely another trick from my opponent.

Dancing around the hole in reality, our fight kept going. The first one to fall inside would lost, the other would reign.

After a while, I had the upper hand. I was pushing, and he was retreating. We were getting closer to the portal, his tricks not working for him anymore.

"You will die soon, the void will feast upon your evil corpse, and I will be the one to rule!" I said, confident in my superiority.

"I'm trusting my soul to you then. Remember to resurrect me as handsome as I am. And don't take too long, I have something to do tonight," he pleaded.

Then, when nothing could possibly go wrong, I tripped, falling right into the portal, the time barely enough to raise my shield against it.

Once again I had lost to one of his evil tricks, but, one day, justice would prevail.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: The awakening**

The nurse was making some potions in the infirmary when they arrived. Professor Colbert was carrying a boy, and Miss Vallière trailed behind. Given the boy's appearance, he probably got in a fight with her. It was certainly not the first time that something like that happened. People kept bullying her because, well, she was an ass, but most were unprepared when she throw an explosion to their faces. Though, with the amount of time passed since the last time, she was sure that they had already grown out of it. "Morning Professor. What can I help you with?" she asked as a mere formality.

"Good morning," he acknowledged, the ritual well practiced "Miss Vallière's familiar is unconscious. I've already confirmed that he ain't in immediate danger, but I would rather have a professional do it."

She raised a brow in disbelieve. If the boy was actually a familiar, he should be some kind of shape-shifter, but, even if they appeared to be human, they were out of her field of expertise, their anatomy was too different, and their bodies were usually resistant to magic in one way or another. She would have expected that train of thought from others, but certainly not from the well respected professor. "You mean this boy is a familiar? If he's some kind of magical creature I'm afraid to say that it would be dangerous for him if I were the one to perform the treatment. I'm highly specialized in human recovery."

"Don't worry about that," he reassured, already heading for an empty bed "he is a commoners as far as I can tell."

"Weird." she said before dismissively adding "Anyway, if that's true, I'll give him a fast check, thought I'll need an authorization from the headmaster before I perform any expensive treatment."

When the boy was resting placidly in the hospital bed, the nurse began to throw spell after spell at him. "Hum.." was all she said at first but, after a while, doubt was visible over her face. "It cant be..." a few spells after that, she turned in their direction and spoke. "This boy is suffering a hard case of magical exhaustion. I've tried to replenish some of his willpower, to aid in the recovery, but as far as I can tell, only a tiny bit of it is actually reaching him. I'm sorry, but some people are more resilient to these treatments than others. He will recover given time, but I can't tell you how long it will take. If you manage to convince Osmond about it, I could use some potent potions that could be more effective." That said, she approached to the wardrobes to pick some fresh clothes for him. If he was suffering from magic exhaustion, he could be a noble, and she would not risk the rage of any noble family to be pointed in her direction. It didn't matter how small or powerless a family could be, marriage or other eventualities could make them rise, and nobles were resentful by nature.

"Wait!" Louise said "You mean he is a noble?! If I've summoned a noble... that's… that's..."

"Yes Ms Vallière," Colbert said confirming her suspicions, "that would more likely qualify as heresy, but, given the clothes he's wearing, I would vouch for a bastard of some kind. Lets wait for him to wake up before we reach any premature conclusions, okay?" With a sigh, Colbert added. "I must leave now, I have a class to impart. You can remain here guarding your familiar, or go to your room and rest. Its up to you. I truthfully wish you good luck with this whole situation Miss Vallière. I truly do."

When she nodded once, he left the nursery to perform his duties, leaving her alone with the kid and the busy nurse. Turning around, she observed her familiar.

He was a boy, no older than ten. His hair was ash gray, his skin an unhealthy pale white, none of it truly remarkable or out of the normalcy. Thinking about it, his hair color was rare enough, for someone that young, to be that of someone with a magical lineage. Only the half top of his clothes were visible, but they were probably made out of silk, and really well made… her train of thought suddenly derailed. Something was wrong, he was wearing some old rags when he first appeared.

She approached while the nurse was still looking for a gown of his size. Removing the bed's sheet, she saw, agape, how his clothes were repairing by themselves. The few holes left, were closing before her own eyes. He was wearing a gold-yellow tunic and silvery pants, with ebony lines sketched over them featuring muscles the same way a full plate would. It should look like a golden armor from a few meters away. Then, after a few seconds, they began to reshape. First, they turned sky blue, then, the fabric twisted into the form of a blue pajama with white clouds drawn on it.

She was screwed. Those were not the clothes of a bastard. Damn it, her family couldn't afford something like that! The princess didn't have something like that! Gallia's royal family was supposed to have light blue colored hair, and their king was mad enough to buy something that expensive for his heir. If she have summoned and contracted a royalty member from another nation as a familiar…there had to be something she could do, something she could say. Maybe, if she asked him for forgiveness hard enough… She was done for, heresy was heresy, no matter who you are, and her fall would drag her family along. Besides, royalty had to play their role. If someone could get away with binding a member of royalty, others would do it too. After all those years trying to prove that she wasn't a failure, that she could bring honor to their household, she was going to prove all those who spoke against her right. So much effort invested in not to do so gone to waste.

Suddenly, the boy opened his gray eyes. A looming presence was standing over him, so he shouted one word. "Devastatio!" though nothing happened. As in disbelieve, he tried to stand, but one of his feet slipped on the white silken sheet, making him fall onto the floor, head first.

The nurse left the fresh clothes fall, hurriedly approaching to help him rise. This mess was already bad enough, there was no point in letting him get injured with a silly accident "Calm down boy, you are suffering from magic exhaustion. Sit down and breath. You will need days to recover."

At first he struggled a bit, confused and disoriented. After a while, he finally allowed the old woman to help him stand. Sitting on the bed, he closed his eyes and remained still. When his mind was clear enough for him to realize that the room was some kind of infirmary, he regained some degree of calm and spoke. "Ubi sum ego?" were his worried words.

The nurse and Louise shared a confused look. The boy was definitely a foreigner, but he wasn't speaking in any language they could recognize. "Boy, can you understand us?" the nurse asked before Louise could think about it.

"qui sunt illi?" was his response, thought not everyone was able to appreciate the curiosity in his voice.

When they provided no answer, his attention focused onto his left hand. With his right index, the boy traced the lines of his newly acquired tattoo. With a deep heavy sigh, he said "non futuis..." After straitening a bit, he added "Tu mihi es vocavit? Sit cum omnibus vobis, per nunc. Haec non erit in oblivione" the threat, clearly implied in his statement.

The boy was talking to her, Louise was almost sure. The problem was that she didn't have the slightest idea of what he was saying. At least he was fine, and that was actually a good sign. Maybe she could convince him to forgive her and forget everything. If only she could use that translation spell…

As if reading her thoughts, the nurse suddenly said "Don't look at me, I can't do a thing about this. You should take him to the headmaster's office, and ask him for some actual counseling."

She was obviously passing the buck, but there was little that Louise could do about it. Making him some signals asking for him to follow her, the best way she could, they left after she expressed her gratitude to the nurse with a bow.

Maybe the Headmaster new of a way to fix the situation… or one which wouldn't got her expelled and excommunicated. He was old enough to had seen someone in a situation like hers elsewhere before.

OOO

The hallways were deserted. Everyone were in class with their familiars, learning what they needed to in order to be able to take care of them, or already bonding with them it in the back yard. Instead of doing that, she was forced to head to the headmaster office, her future once again uncertain.

A thousand of worries were piling up in her head when she came across a couple. The boy was holding a disturbingly big and heavy looking mole, the girl, a little tree frog. Out of the two, the frog was a more desirable choice, at least, it had beautiful colors. Maybe, had she went along with the normal summoning ritual, she could have gotten herself something like that.

"Look," the blond girl said "Zero had to pay someone to pose as her familiar, and she could even afford a warrior, so she just took a kid from the streets. How desperate must you be to even give him some of our clothes, that just make the whole charade even funnier," the mockery expression over her face hardly dissimulated by the hand covering her mouth.

"Come on, Mon Mon, don't waste your beautiful breath with someone so low. I would love to be the only one within your thoughts, the receptor of each one of your precious words."

"I did nothing like that! My summon was perfect! Its just that..." Louise tried, but the words died in her throat. They were among the ones who ran away, so the weren't there when he got out of the summoning portal, so there was no point in denying it. Too many times had the same excuses been used, the weight and meaning behind them already lost. There was no point in denying her own lack of skill anymore, once it was known, not even her family would be able to back her up any longer, not if they wanted to keep any of their remaining prestige.

When both couples were passing by each other, Guiche bumped into the kid, making him fall. "Zero, you better teach your servants how to walk, now he's staining the floor with his dirty existence. Lets go Mon Mon, I don't want a rose like yourself to be in the presence of such a shameful joke of a noble any more than strictly needed."

With a soft smile, Guiche and Montmorency walked away.

Suddenly, the illumination in the hallway faded.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: A book of old**

Why was everyone so mean with her? She was a noble, the third daughter of the La Vallière family, everyone else should be doing everything within their hands to be her friends, but, instead, she was look down upon. Months of that, made her seek for a place where she could hide in, somewhere she could cry in.

The library was her fortress of solitude, since most people never set foot in it. Their magical gift was something most had an instinctive understanding of, so barely anyone ever thought about reading books about something they already knew, or thought they knew.

She had little more than half a year left until her death line, but she wasn't improving. Her final test would be the summoning ritual, but Louise was unsure of her capacity to perform it, even if she would never say it out loud. She even tried to perform it secretly within the safety of her room, but managed nothing, and that was worrying.

One day, much like any other, there she was, crying in the library, though, that time, she wasn't alone. It was one of those days when Professor Colbert got himself immersed in one of his researches. Trying to avoid him, she looked for a more secluded location within the library, finally finding an isolated dead end next to the fairy tale section.

Letting herself fall between two shelves, something poked Louise in her buttocks. With a little scared jump, she stood once again, looking for the offending thing. It was the upper corner of a book which was lying under one of the shelves. It was covered with webs, but the cover seemed to be in a good shape under them. Probably earth magic was preserving it from decay.

Getting the book into her hands, she blew the webs away in order to remove them from on top of the bright blue symbol she had noticed, completely revealing it. It was a rune engraved in the cover, though she didn't knew its meaning, but it was definitely magical. All those shinny blue particles were slowly flowing out of it, disappearing after a while. A clear sign of its power.

She opened it cautiously, but, since the gibberish scrawls it had written over it pages were incomprehensible, Louise closed them and brought the book to the librarian.

"Excuse me." Louise said handing the book to the elder woman. "I found this book over there. I think it may be valuable."

Accepting the book with a plain look on her face, she placed it over her desk and opened a couple of drawers, searching for something. Finally, taking a pair of glasses out of one of the drawers, she moved a lock of green hair out of her face and donned them.

With the book once again in her grasp, she examined it. First, she used her wand to cast some spells on the tome, all of them high level magic-detection ones if Louise was right, but there was no reaction from it. The book wasn't magical or, at least, not more magical than any other book in the library. Examining the leader cover, she overlooked the plain looking rune engraved in it. Then, when she saw its contents, Ms Leroy realized that they were similar to those in some ancient books that the headmaster kept in the library, though, she was sure that the one she was holding wasn't one of them, so she handed it back to Louise. "I'm sorry to tell you this Ms Vallière, but it's just an old book. Could you please place it somewhere in the history section? This old legs of mine ain't what they used to."

Looking at the bright symbol that was right in front of her, Louise felt confused. "But, what about the rune?"

"The rune?" she eyed it once again but, not being an archeologist, the rune meant nothing to her. "What happens with it?" her confused expression telling Louise all that she needed to know.

She should have gotten accustomed to that after so long. People was somehow unable to tell when something was magical or not by just looking at it, but she sometimes forgot about that little detail. "Hum… do you know what language it's in?"

"Not really, but, if I'm right, there are some books in the poetry section which are written in this same language, with their translations attached to them. You can check on them, though you must be really careful with those books, its a hobby of sorts of the headmaster and they are technically his property."

"Is it really alright if I use them?" Louise asked a bit worried. The headmaster was a weird old man.

"Don't worry miss, he specifically told me to lend it to any student who asked for it, specially if said student was female. I was just giving you the advice because he can be… peculiar with… mostly everything." for the first time the woman allowing herself to show her emotions, even if they were ones of disgust.

The Headmaster was suddenly closer to be creepy than weird from her point of view, but Louise wasn't really worried about that. With a soft "thanks" se headed for the poetry shelves. The book could be anything from a really well preserved book to some lost magical artifact, and the only way to know was to check it by herself. She was ahead on her theoretical studies anyway, and her practicals wont get better anytime soon.

The books were in the specified section, and they were easy enough to spot, low levels of power emanating from all of them. Taking them all, she brought the books back to her room.

OOO

A few sleepless days later, she was been able to translate a few parts of the book.

As far as she knew, the book was about some ancient way to summon magical creatures, which was actually the combination of two different magical schools. One of them was unknown to her, many of the symbols used to refer to it not appearing in the other books. The other was really close to the familiar summoning ritual she had been studding.

The first chapter was about power channeling, or, more specifically, about commoners doing so, so she just dropped that one. There was no point in translating something heretic.

At first she thought about ignoring the index, but, after wasting her first two days trying to translate the first chapter, she realized it could actually save her some time.

There were other chapters that she just skipped, being ' _elementals' safe binding and care_ ' and ' _The dangers of the Void and how to prevent them_ ' among them. The void was the holy element, and there was no need to take extra steps, and invest even more power, to protect your familiar from it. Besides, if someone found such kind of texts in her room written by her hand... The elementals, on the other side, were too powerful beings to be familiars, and those who tried it in the past were remembered for a reason. Besides, her time was limited, and each chapter would take weeks to be, more or less, translated.

After two weeks, she was getting some results. She settled for one kind of magical being whose name could be roughly translated as 'midst of world', mostly because the ones talking about 'souls' seemed suspiciously sacrilegious. There were some requirements to perform the ritual, but most of them were optional, being the magical power the only real requirement.

"Magical being blood… mix materials...hold magic.." she was muttering while reading through the half translation of the last chapter of the book. It was a recipe to make a container for magical power, but she would need help with it. Louise was quite sure about her ability to craft it with all the instructions she got, but some of the materials needed would be expensive. After making a list of what she would need, she wrote a letter to her sister.

"Dear Cattleya:" she began.

"I miss you so much, and the others too, but I need you to keep this letter a secret. How are you feeling? The school is still much like in the last letter I sent you. I know you wont be expecting another one so soon, but I have a request for you. I think I have found something that will help me with my chanting problems, but I need you to send me something." What she was about to ask for was hard, but, if everything went well, and her mother didn't discover it, she will be fine.

"Carefully, I need you to..."

OOO

Being her sister who she was, and knowing how the most dangerous beings turned into loving puppets when she was around, the dangers for her were nonexistent, but Louise was still worried. Cattleya had a tendency to over-exert herself, sometimes without even a good reason to do so. One day, when Louise managed to finally control her own magic, she would find a way to heal Cattleya. She was the only one who showed her some comprehension and supported her within their family. Her mother was obsessed with her rule of steel, and, for Louise, it wasn't exactly easy to please her, or meet her expectations. Her father was rarely at home, though he was a loving father when he was, and Éléonore was scary, usually expending most of their time together shouting at Louise or pinching her cheeks.

Finally, after more than a week of distressingly wait, a package arrived. The box was unexpectedly big, but the sender was her sister.

When the servants took it to her bedroom and left, Louise opened the package. There was a letter and some ceramic tiny vases beneath it.

"Dear Louise:

I'm so proud of you! Just keep working as hard as you always do and I'm sure you will become whatever you want to, but don't exert yourself too much. You are still young and your health is important." said the pot to the kettle.

"I hope you like the vases I've made. I know you asked for just one, but, since you didn't want mom to hear about it, I had to make them by myself. Don't worry about it, I've being better lately. Anyway, since the first one I made was so beautiful, and Manti was prone to give me some more blood anyway, I made five more. I hope you like them and they prove useful. I'll be waiting for your reply. Don't over do it okay? OH, and try to come home soon, we miss you.

Love,

Cattleya Yvette La Baume Le Blanc de La Fontaine XXX"

Gently, she placed the letter with the others she had, safely kept within an enchanted jeweler she found long ago in their house yard, one that only she could open.

Examining one of the vessels, she noticed how the magic flowed out of it. At that rate, they wouldn't last more than a year, but it was more than enough. If everything went as planed she could do it in time and, if not… well, if the worst came to happen, she could still try afterwards or ask her sister for more.

When the night came, she began with the ritual. It was easy. The only thing she had to do was channel her willpower into the vase.

The runes that her sister skillfully carved over its surface, following her drawings, began to glow, and not only from her point of view, the blue light they were emitting illuminated the whole room.

Louise's face illuminated too, though not because of the light, but because of the joyful smile she was portraying. The vessel was almost empty, but she was doing it, her power was flowing, her ritual would work, just a little more, and everyone would respect her.

After a while, she began to feel exhausted, but kept pushing her power in it. She would give it her all if needed, and time was of the utmost importance, magical exhaustion was something you recovered from. Unexpectedly, when her power finally run out, the vessel cracked, a huge explosion leveling her room.

The other vases remained safe from harm within their container, but the furniture wasn't that fortunate, nor were her clothes. It was a failure, but one she could understand and fix, not like the ones she made during the previous months. That instinctive understanding of magic was something she had wished for since she took hold of a wand for the first time, and her efforts were finally paying off.

After her most deserved night of sleep, she kept carrying out the ritual during the ensuing nights, and, those times, she did knew when to stop.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Agreement**

Right there, on the other side of the hallway's window was a blue dragon rhythmically flapping its wings. The huge head was tilted to the left, paying close attention to what was going on inside. Louise was the only one paying attention to the dragon, since the couple was walking away in the opposite direction and the kid was lying on the floor with his head turned in Guiche general position.

"asshole" echoed through the silent hallway.

A chill ran through Louise spine. Turning around, she saw Guiche's face already reddened. His wand was being tightly hold withing his right hand, promising impending doom.

"What did you just said?" Guiche said with obvious disbelieve all over his face "You better apologize commoner... or I'll make you be sorry." his threatening pose loosing most of its intended purpose due to his rose's wild gesticulation.

Hurriedly, Louise interposed between him and her familiar. "Guiche, please, he doesn't speak our language, it must mean something in his..."

"I'm sorry you are an asshole." the already standing familiar said, interrupting his master. "Are you happy now? Nice, we have business to attend." then, with a growing smirk, he shooed them. "Lets go master."

For an instant the only sound they could hear were the ever more distant beating noise of the dragon's wings. Its departure also noticeable with the illumination rising to its normal light levels after it abandoned its position blocking the window.

"Zero," Guiche half-shouted when he got out of the shock "your servant has offended me and mine! I request a compensation. If you are unable to punish him properly, I'll have to report about this." already calming down, he turned around and began to walk away with the also disgusted Montmorency "Now, we must leave. Class is going on for those of us who succeed at the summoning. By the way, if he doesn't apologize properly, and no punishment has being applied by tomorrow morning, I'll take the appropriate measures."

How everything seemed to go wrong for her was a question that never truly left her alone, always kept in mind, but that time everything was falling apart. Her last and only hope was to properly summon something able to impress her mother and everyone else, but she had failed to even do that by summoning some irreverent kid. Maybe she should run away... but, where? She could also go back home and learn how to be a proper wife. At least her groom was kind to her... handsome… comprehensive… skilled with magic… yes, he was perfect. Way better than she deserved. It was the only remaining beam of hope in her nightmare of a life… as long as he didn't change his mind. That was another of her fears, what if he realized how pathetic she really was and canceled the engagement? She would end up as a no one's trophy wife.

"Miss Vallière?" The feminine voice was finally able to take her out of her self-absorption.

"huh?" was her sole response to the call.

"Miss Vallière, are you feeling well?" Louise's watery eyes and absentminded state slightly worrying the older woman. "The headmaster told me to come to bring you and your familiar back to his office. Could you please follow me?"

OOO

Inside of his office, Osmond was watching it all with the aid of a little scrying spell of his. Miss Vallière's familiar was indeed a curious and audacious boy. He was young, but the level of disrespect he showed to the Gramont's boy… the whole situation was dire, but it would just make it more entertaining for him to solve. Challenging situations were scarce nowadays and he was growing bored, mostly because his secretary was getting better at predicting his attempts at peeping. The boy wasn't carrying a wand when he was summoned, but that could be because he wasn't carrying it at the time of the summoning, given the amount of magic Old Osmond could see around him. Youngsters usually forgot them here or there until they were formally educated in their proper use. Besides he didn't even made an attempt to reach for it, so he was probably just another noble boy used to other people taking care of his messes.

The spells on the boy, on their part, were harshly layered one over another with some kind of concealment spell on top of them, and no commoner would ever be able to afford such a level of dedication and cost. Undoubtedly, the magician responsible for them was skilled enough to give Osmond a hard time detecting them, even more given the fact that he was unable to tell what their individual purpose were, not to say that Colbert was unable to even detect any hint of them with a magic detection spell.

Taking it all into consideration, the boy should be from a rich noble house or even a member of royalty, though he knew of none who would fit into his description.

Osmond was still analyzing what he knew, when they all reached the floor of his office, so he dispelled his scrying window and waited for them to reach the door.

"Come in," The director said right before Miss Longueville was able to knock on the door. "Oh, good morning, Miss Vallière, I'm glad to see you are fine. That summoning ritual of yours was indeed spectacular. Things like that make it worth still be around."

"I'm sorry, Director," Louise said bending her head down. "I'm sure my family will pay for any damage I may have caused to the yard."

"Miss Vallière, worry not, for there is no need to do that." his left hand waving in dismissal while his left was trying to keep hold on an old pipe as if it were trying to scape his grip "We have more than a few teachers in need of some extra practice. Life here makes them soft and rusty on the edges." For a few seconds, he remained silent until, finally, the pipe floated away from him "Miss Longueville, why do you insist in taking away this old man life's pleasure?"

With a total disregard for his complains, She spoke "Here are Miss Vallière and her familiar director, as you requested. Now, if there is nothing more, I have some letters to send."

Politely bowing, mostly to Miss Vallière, Miss Longueville left them on their own.

From under his desk, Osmond made another pipe appear. "Very well Miss Vallière, I'm glad you managed to summon something" focusing on the boy he added "no offense intended young man."

"Non taken."

"Excellent! Now, as I already said, your summoning ritual was splendid." Louise face slightly reddening at the compliment "Unfortunately, you have also set yourself in a dire situation. Young boy, if I may, would you mind telling us a bit about you? Your name, were are you from, from which family… Those kinds of things. I myself am Sir Osmond, Headmaster of this magic school. Your master, even if I'm sure you have already introduced to each other, is Ms Louise Françoise Le Blanc de La Vallière."

Not taking even a heartbeat to answer he automatically replied "Yes, I do mind."

On her part, Louise turned to him in disbelieve. Not only was he disrespectful to a noble, but he also refused to comply with the basic courtesy of telling ones name, even if she herself have failed to fulfill such duty. Osmond on his side wasn't disturbed at all.

"May I at least know why? Given your attire, I'm sure you are from a well positioned family, so let me assure you this is not some kind of kidnap or act of war against you. We are as confused as you may be about your presence here, and I would love to know if there is something we can help you with."

Rising his left hand for Osmond to see, he said "Then, if this all was an accident, you will remove this brand from me and bring me a carriage to take me back to The Village of Three Crosses in Moth. Right?"

Louise went white. Was she about to lose her familiar, even if just a mere human, so soon after its summoning? If so, not only all the effort she put into the summoning ritual would be wasted, but her only successful spell, ever, would be undone.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you Young man, but a familiar contract is unbreakable, both legally and physically. The only way it can be broken is if one of you die, and that's something we cant allow. Also, I must add that I have never hear of such a place called Moth nor about the village you talk about. You seem to have a perfect understanding of our language so you must know were you are in relation to your..."

"I don't know which language this one is. This is merely a universal translation spell that..."

"So you are a noble?" Louise interjected.

"What does that have to do with anything?" the confused look on his face rapidly passing on to hers.

"Boy, I don't know where you are from but, here in Tristain, us nobles are the only ones able to perform magic… well, there are the bastards and the disowned nobles... Though that's not the point. If you don't mind answering Miss Vallière question and, while you are at it, telling us anything you could about you, everything will roll out faster and we will be able to aid you with anything you need as long as it's withing our capabilities."

After a couple of awkward minutes, Saito complied to the request "You can call me Saito, though that name wont help you strengthen this weird binding. I'm from the old continent and my mother is a… doctor of sorts, so no, I'm not a noble. Where I'm from, magic and nobility ain't intertwined. Would I be wrong to assume you have never heard of the Empire of Abel or the Azur Alliance?"

"Indeed, you wouldn't." Osmond answered.

"Then, I've crossed the barrier. Lets make a deal." he suggested "If you help me to get in contact with my family, I will help her with whatever this spell on my left hand is trying to coerce me to do."

"Very well! I think we have a deal. Miss Vallière, is there anything you would like to add? If not I would like to encourage you to go to class. Mister Saito, if you don't mind, I would like to talk to you about our customs and laws, mostly to avoid any unpleasant incident that could disturb the peace here."

"I'm… I'm grateful for you help Headmaster." Was all Louise was able to muster before leaving his office.

OOO

The door in front of her was close, but some voices leaked through it. There was little time left before the lunch break, and she was in doubt about whether to get inside and be shamed by her classmates or to wait in the dinning hall for them to make fun of her while having lunch. If she got it right, Saito would remain as her familiar, and the director was somehow interested in him even after he confirmed that he was nothing more than a commoner. But that wasn't what she feared the most. The commoner she had summoned as a familiar was more skilled than her, a proud member of the Tristanian nobility, with magic. It was something everyone will notice soon enough one way or another. Even if the translation spell was something any first year could manage by the second semester, she had no luck with. Sure, she could order him to hide that fact but, even if he had promised to fulfill his duties as a familiar, he was still nothing more than a kid, and commoner kids were even less dependable than adult ones and hers was unable to use common sense when dealing with his superiors.

There was also the problem of the punishment. He had offended Guiche and Montmorency, and that was something she couldn't forget about. Commoners had been sentenced to death for less. Whatever punishment she came up with, should be short of it. She could have him not eating for a week. He wouldn't die just because of that and was a bad enough punishment, so Guiche should not be able to complain. The apology part should be easy, since he said something along the lines of following a familiar duties.

Ultimately, she decided that it would be better to wait in the dinning hall. There, people would be somewhat distracted with food and some would choose to focus on the food instead of on her. That way, she should be able to avoid some of the mockery.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: The link**

The peace within the Alvin dinning hall didn't last long. Soon after she took sit, next to one of the corners and as far away from the doors as she could, the service began to serve the lunch. As always, everything had a delicious look, and an even better smell, but she wasn't in the mood to eat.

When she finally made up her mind and was about to leave the hall, the other students began to arrive. Among them where her classmates, Guiche leading half a dozen boys while laughing about how pathetic Louise was.

"Hey look, there she is! Zero! Where is your 'Familiar'?" one of them said jokingly.

"She was probably unable to pay whichever amount of money she promised him, and he abandoned her!" another one added.

"Calm down boys, she sure has locked him somewhere while deciding on his punishment. Servants must learn how to address their betters, even if they are told to pretend to be a familiar." Approaching her, Guiche asked "So, what will it be? I hope you were able to come up with something satisfying."

Without looking him in the eye, Louise subtly nodded, answering with an almost inaudible voice "He wont be allowed to eat for the next week."

"Oh? That seems fine. Congratulations! You finally managed to act your part as a noble! What about..."

"Who's not going to be allowed to eat for the next week?" Saito suddenly asked, his voice a monotone.

"Oh, look who's here! Mr Familiar. You must be a powerful magical creature if you are the familiar of such a powerful mage. After all, the power of the familiar is but a reflection of its master's own." Malicorne said ironically with a mocking of a reverence. "Don't you agree Zero?"

"Yea, sure, whatever. Now, get lost you bunch. I have things to work out with my master and you are in the way." Within the noisy hall, only those closer to them actually heard him, though those who realized something was going on started to approach "Are you guys deft? Move away."

Waving his rose while turning around, Guiche ended his motion in a defying pose. His right arm extended with his rose-wand adorning its end which was pointed at Saito, his well practiced pose failing once again to inspire fear and respect in others but drawing a delighted sigh from some females "You just wont learn good manners commoner, would you? Zero, your servant is being disrespectful again. Maybe you should extend his punishment for another week, and I demand a proper apology right know. One thing is to be disrespectful in a mostly private situation, but I can't tolerate this kind of offensive behavior, not only to me, but to my fellow companions."

"Saito, apologize right now!" Louise demanded, her voice pitiful and lacking strength.

"I don't think so. I've done nothing wrong. To be polite ain't within the duties of a familiar. Would you demand a dragon to be respectful with a human? I don't think so, you would just keep your distance, just it case it gets hungry." Saito retorted impassively, his poker face not letting a single emotion slip through, even while he was almost forced to shout to have his words heard.

"Of course I would! A… a familiar must follow the orders of its master! No familiar would harm a noble unless ordered to do so... or to protect its master, of course." she was getting more and more nervous as new students approached to observe the little circus, but was unable to find the words needed to stop it.

With half a dozen guys plus one between them, the volume of the whole conversation was higher than it should, unnecessarily dragging even more people's attention. Even while the boys were obviously mad at the unmannerly kid, they were also having too much fun teasing Louise so, instead of taking it to an end, they simply kept whispering and whistling to make it look worst that it actually was.

"Very well Master. Fortunately, we have a perfect example right here, in this very campus. If the effeminate boy goes out there, knock down the dragon, and make her be polite to him, or even apologize after she bites him, I'll do the same."

"Who are you calling..."Guiche tried, but the high pitched voice suddently coming from Louise muffled his words.

"But that's a dragon! You treat them with respect! What you are asking for is insane and illogical! Now, follow my command an apologize to them. I want to be able to go to my room and rest, today has been an exhausting day."

"You mean they are preventing you from leaving?" a subtle smirk appeared over Saito's face. Stepping forward, Saito lightly pressed the rounded half moon thin blade that was suddenly mounted on his right fist. The straps keeping the weapon in place were intertwined with the ones on his leathery gear. How no one noticed beforehand the well polished and reflecting surface of the blade loosing importance on the face of what was flowing over it. "To protect their master is actually a familiars duty." He stated blankly.

After a few screams, everyone went silent. Only then, saito spoke once again, this time with his face barely a few centimeters away from Guiche's, most of them because of the difference in height. "Now, tell me. Who is the one who should apologize to who? Please, enlighten me, 'powerful' magician."

With everyone taking a few steps back, Louise was finally able to see her familiar. He was wearing some kind of leathery attire, one that wouldn't be out of place for a hunter, mostly made out of a huge amount of leather strips stacked together, though the leather it was made of was black instead of its classic brownish tonality. The light from the hall candles beautifully being reflected on its surface. "Saito! Stop this!" She shouted the instant she saw the deep red blood slowly flowing along his arm and dripping from his elbow.

At the same time, a high pitched sigh was heard and Guiche fell unconscious, a thin bloody line across his neck.

"As you command master, though the threat has being successfully neutralized. You can now leave this place if that is your desire."

Montmorency hurriedly approached her boyfriend and began to cast a spell. Fast enough, the wound was sealed.

"What is going on here!?" a bald teacher, asked while running inside of the hall.

"This commoner attacked Guiche… snif... without provocation and with a weapon, and… and almost cut his head off!" A crying young girl with a brown cloak answered. "He… snif… he could be dead!"

"Prove it." Saito said with a plain expression.

"What are you talking about? We all saw you do it!" a third year boy, who was holding a wand with its tip on fire, shouted.

"Maybe, maybe not. You may all just be allying against My Master. I see no weapon in my possession, but you guys are pointing your wands against a boy who is half your age, and some of you even have spells at the ready. Who is the bad guy here and who is harassing who?"

"Guiche! Are you alright?" Montmorency voice dragged everyone's attention.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thanks for your care, my beautiful flower."

While rubbing his unhurt neck with his free hand, Guiche stood. "You caught me by surprise kid, but that wont happen a second time. I challenge you to a duel."

Blatantly disregarding Guiche, Saito addressed Louise "Master, shall we leave, or would you like to do anything else?"

"Saito, please, you must understand the situation you are in." Colbert interjected "The headmaster has already given me some directives on how to interact with you, but this goes above and beyond what he told me. If you keep acting like this I'll be forced to intervene. You can either accept or reject the duel, it's up to you, but, if you keep snubbing Mr Gramont, I'll be forced to act in consequence."

"Master?"

With that one word, Saito waited for his master input. Louise was sitting silent, agape while observing the nonsense taking place before her. Had Guiche died, it would have being her responsibility. She had the feeling, deep within her, that her familiar was just playing around but, at the same time, something else was going on, something she was unable to completely discern. Were those feelings coming from him or from herself? Familiars were able to share some of their senses with their masters. If she had to name it, it would be a feeling akin to fear. Though, if it was fear, he was making a good work hiding it. Maybe, what she was feeling and how she was acting was actually a reaction to the newly established link between them. Focusing on those feelings, she pushed them away. Slowly, her cloudy state of mind clarified.

Why was she hiding? She had summoned a commoner from another kingdom, true, but he was also a magician without being a noble. There was no law forbidding a noble to do whatever they wished with commoners, so there was no crime in what she did. Besides, not only was a familiar a representation of its master power, it was also determined by its magical alignment. Whichever elemental affinity he had, she should had the same. He was obviously able to perform spells, even if they were basic ones, so he knew which was his affinity. To finally discover which one was hers, all she had to do was ask.

Finally standing, Louise approached her familiar. "Familiar, take me to my room, I'm tired."

"Wait there, zero. I've challenged him to a duel. He can either accept or decline it but, if he do refuse to do so, I'll have officially beaten a De La Vallière in a duel. The choice is his, or yours. Not that I wont be presenting this issue to the crown for them to judge anyway."

"I've properly performed the summoning ritual," Louise said proudly "your little gutters no longer have a meaning to me. Besides, duels between members of nobility are forbidden Guiche, in case you have forgotten."

"I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news Miss Vallière. While duels between members of Tristanian nobility are forbidden, duels between a noble and a commoner or a familiar are not." Colbert sadly pointed out.

"Guiche, he's a kid. You really want to lower yourself and your family's name even more by mistreating kids?"

"An armed Kid who tried to murder him." Montmorency pointed out.

"Not only you are the most beautiful flower on the garden my Mon Mon," Guiche said, not losing a chance to court her "you also are the keener of them all."

"It's up to you Master. Either way, I don't care."

That's when she realized how scared her familiar was. There was something he was desperately trying to hide beneath his facade. If only she knew what he was scared of, the decision would be easier. On one side, It should be hard for a kid that young to beat a second year student but, if she ordered him not to fight, her family name would be the one affected. Accepting the duel was the right option. If he somehow managed to win, she would be able to use it later as leverage when confronting them. If he were defeated… it would be mostly the same as if she declined the challenge, but that was something she could deal with at a later time.

"So be it."

"I'll be waiting for you in the vestry court. You can go and pray for your life, but don't take too long."

Guiche left, most of the students following his trail. The food on the tables left behind, already cold. There was no point in letting it go waste, so the servants were already happily clearing the tables. It would be one of those days when they could enjoy a feast worthy of those unworthy noble.

From a corner, a couple of maids were entranced admiring it all. Whoever that kid was, he did what most of the commoners wanted to do, but never dared to. If he somehow managed to even survive the duel, he would be a hero.


End file.
